Saturday, August 8, 2015

Trout and Pujols are not Mantle and Maris, not even Ruth and Gehrig.

Yesterday on MLB Network someone said that Mike Trout and Albert Pujols had a chance to be like Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, teammates who hit 50 homers. Or at least like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig at United States Military Academy, West Point, May 1927, by USMA (US National Archives) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

I've liked Trout since his rookie season of 2012, comparing him to Mantle back then. I think Trout should be going for his fourth consecutive MVP award instead of his second. Pujols is one of the best right handed sluggers ever. But here is some perspective.

... the 50th anniversary of the historic home run race between teammates Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris... Maris, of course, broke Babe Ruth's record of 60. Mantle had 54...It just occurred to me that Mantle and Maris are still the only teammates to hit 50 HR. Not only are they the only pair to hit 50 in the same season but they are the only teammates to do it in any seasons.The M&M boys broke the two teammate record of Ruth and Lou Gehrig (60+47 = 107) in 1927: (61+54 = 115)...In a sense, Ruth and Gehrig come the closest to being teammates hitting 50 in the same season. Then there are Albert Belle and Jim Thome with Cleveland. Belle hit 50 in 1995 and teammate Thome hit 25. In 2002 Thome hit 52 but Belle left Cleveland after the 1996 season and retired after 2000.
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Through 108 (66%) of 162 games Trout has 33 homers and Pujols 30. A rough extrapolation: Trout 50, Pujols 45. That's a new Angel team record for Trout (Troy Glaus 47 in 2000) but not Mantle and Maris, not even Ruth and Gehrig.